Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Pompano Beach high school student rescues animals found living in squalor
A South Florida high school student jumped into action to rescue 260 rabbits and guinea pigs when she heard about their shockingly horrible living conditions.
It was happening at a farm-like setting in the town of Alva near Fort Myers: Animals that also included horses and ducks, all living in squalor, uncared for, and many with horrifying injuries.
When word of the situation reached Dylan Warfel, a Pompano Beach senior at North Broward Prep, she began a massive coordination effort to rescue dozens of the animals and find them new homes.
Warfel, who has been rescuing animals for five years, called animal rescue groups she’d worked with in the past and others that could offer help. In a matter of days, she’d found homes for the majority of the 260 rabbits and guinea pigs.
It was an exhausting, yet remarkable feat for 17-year-old Warfel.
It began when Sharon Resch, co-owner of Floppy Ear Rescue in Port St. Lucie, saw the situation.
“There were duck feces everywhere,” said Resch, who took in 19 of the rabbits herself. “It just had
a horrible smell. It was wet. There was poop everywhere. The horses were dirty. The amount of ducks that were there, it was at least 40. They were like everywhere. It was nuts.”
Many of the animals had life-threatening wounds and sicknesses, said Heather Lear, an adoption coordinator for Bishop Animal Shelter of Manatee County, which took 35 guinea pigs and 18 rabbits.
“Upon first evaluation we discovered all 18 rabbits were infected with Syphilis and were quarantined to be treated,” Bishop said. “It was apparent that the rabbits had been infected for an extended period of time due to sores on their skin.”
Monica Mitchell, founder of East Coast Rabbit Rescue who treated some of the worst cases, said one rabbit had such a bad infection that half of its chest was an open wound and required surgery. Another rabbit had a severe mite infestation. Although she didn’t witness the scent personally, she knew from treating the animals how terrible their living conditions were. “Basically, they were feeding on their poo and pee,” she said.
It was up to Warfel and Marquelle Hendryx, owner and founder of Broken Oak Animal Sanctuary in Alva, to get the animals to safety. The sorted them by gender and arranged them in the order they’d be dropped off, then set out across Florida in a rented cargo van to find facilities to take the rescues.
They estimate they made six stops on their nearly 24-hour trip, going from the west coast, to central Florida, to the east coast.
“We even ended up transporting 40 to Missouri,” Warfel said.
“I just cannot commend Dylan enough for being a high school student,” Hendryx said. “In order for us, in one day, to be able to get 260 animals off of one property and to transport them to all of the different agencies, organizations and rescues, the amount of coordinating and communication and everything that Dylan was able to do was integral to what we were able to do. It was amazing. She’s a great kid. It’s impressive.”
Warfel herself took 21 rabbits and guinea pigs from Alva and wants to find them homes. They also have a GoFundMe page and can be reached by email for information on fostering and adopting. Warfel recently filed paperwork with her business partner, Kristina Gertser, to start a non-profit animal rescue company. She said they plan to call it Penny and Wild Smalls of South Florida, named after the two most aggressive rabbits that Warfel ever accepted. Penny and Wild would viciously attack people and were due to be euthanized until Warfel decided to adopt them. Eventually, both rabbits became cuddly and kid-friendly.
“That’s kind of the reason we do this,” she said, “so rabbits that aren’t really well understood don’t have to die.”
Warfel has been rescuing rabbits and guinea pigs since she was 12 years old. At one point at that age, she estimates she had 30 rabbits and guinea pigs spread among three of the eight bedrooms in her family’s home.
Since then her interest grew.
“I’ve worked with six different rescues,” she said. “I volunteer, I foster, I clean cages, I do what I can.”
Warfel plans on attending college next year but is unsure where she’ll go or what she’ll study.
But in a way, she’s already made a mark in her community and her state.
“She’s very humble,” Hendryx said. “She keeps wanting to say this was collaborative and I’m like, ‘Kid, ya gotta give yourself more credit.’ It’s very impressive. And, yeah, I drove the cargo van we had. So, yeah, there were definitely multiple people that helped, and obviously different fosters and we’ve done fund-raising.
“But single-handedly, behind the scenes, a 17-yearold kid coordinated much of everything that happened.”